Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 9, 2026

The Mortimer Touch

The Mortimer Touch is a comedy play by the British writer Eric Linklater. It was developed out of an earlier work of his The Atom Doctor which appeared at the 1950 Edinburgh Festival and drew inspiration from Ben Jonson's The Alchemist.

Last revised
Jul 9, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
Length
176 w
Citations
4
Source
The Mortimer Touch
Original languageEnglish
Written byEric Linklater
GenreComedy
SettingEdinburgh, Scotland
Premiere
Date31 March 1952
PlaceWimbledon Theatre, London

The Mortimer Touch is a comedy play by the British writer Eric Linklater.12 It was developed out of an earlier work of his The Atom Doctor which appeared at the 1950 Edinburgh Festival and drew inspiration from Ben Jonson's The Alchemist.

It premiered at the Wimbledon Theatre before transferring to the Duke of York's Theatre in the West End where it ran for 45 performances between 30 April and 7 June 1952. The original West End cast included Mervyn Johns, Roger Livesey, Richard Pearson, George Relph, William Mervyn, Harry Towb, Vincent Holman, Mona Washbourne, Pamela Brown, Esma Cannon, Glen Alyn and Molly Urquhart.3 It was published the same year by Samuel French.4

References

References

  1. Royle p. 178
  2. Reilly p. 782
  3. Wearing p. 160
  4. Reilly p. 782
Bibliography

Bibliography

  • Reilly, John M. Twentieth Century Crime & Mystery Writers. Springer, 2015.
  • Royle, Trevor. The Macmillan Companion to Scottish Literature. Macmillan, 1983.
  • Wearing, J. P. The London Stage 1950–1959: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel. Rowman & Littlefield, 2014.